Emancipation Dbq

865 Words2 Pages

Lincoln wished to destroy the South and instill it with ideas from the anti-slave North. Blacks would be free to work for themselves as freemen. The South took the Emancipation Proclamation as the Nation’s biggest atrocity committed on its own people in history. Some slave owning Northerners claimed it was unconstitutional and would lead to violent slave uprisings and the taking of white man’s jobs. This was an “act of justice” that needed to be signed and ratified (Chapter 14, pp. 447). Lincoln knew that this was an important moment in history when he said: “If my name ever goes into history, it was for this act” (Chapter 14, pp. 447). This is what Lincoln would be remembered for in the years to come. His name went down in history as the President …show more content…

Blacks were critical in the victory of the Union. “By 1865, nearly 200,000 African Americans were serving the Union”, and according to Lincoln, without these important volunteers and recruits “we would ne compelled to abandon the war in three weeks” (Chapter 14, pp. 450). A pivotal moment in Civil War history, blacks were now able to fight and rebel against slavery alongside white men. With prior failures in previous Generals taking advantage of Southern weaknesses in battle, in March of 1864 Lincoln and General Ulysses S. Grant effectively created and employed aggressive military strategies that would lead to victory. The newly appointed General Grant was aggressive and brutal in his war tactics that had a disregard for life lost on either side. His primary goal and focus was to win the war and not prolong …show more content…

The Republican Party fully endorsed Lincoln’s war strategies, the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863, his goal to end the Confederacy by force or surrender, and his calling for an amendment of the Constitution that would abolish slavery entirely. Opposing political parties wanted slavery to remain in the South and used the Democratic party to object to Lincoln’s claims for abolition. These rejections by the Democratic party failed as Lincoln won another term of presidency again in November of 1864. The fall and decline of the Confederacy was beginning to happen as states amended their Constitutions to end slavery. Nearing the end of the war to re-enforce the abolition of slavery and maintain the policies of the Emancipation Proclamation, Republican Congress passed the 13th amendment to end slavery in 1865. Slavery was nearly over. By May of 1865, the war was practically over after the Confederate generals and army lost in battle and surrendered. The Confederate government had lost its power and had crumbled to dust. The South’s attempt at secession to form a new Confederacy had failed against the power of Lincoln and the North. The slave population who refused to work or fight for the South and the farmers that objected the draft and rich planters were both big weaknesses that led to the loss of

Show More
Related

  • Phillip Shaw Paludan's The Presidency Of Abraham Lincoln

    1264 Words  | 3 Pages

    At the time, the South depended on slavery to support their way of life. In fact, “to protect slavery the Confederate States of America would challenge the peaceful, lawful, orderly means of changing governments in the United States, even by resorting to war.” (635) Lincoln believed that slavery was morally wrong and realized that slavery was bitterly dividing the country. Not only was slavery dividing the nation, but slavery was also endangering the Union, hurting both black and white people and threatening the processes of government. At first, Lincoln’s goal was to save the Union in which “he would free none, some, or all the slaves to save that Union.” (634) However, Lincoln realized that “freeing the slaves and saving the Union were linked as one goal, not two optional goals.” (634) Therefore, Lincoln’s primary goal was to save the Union and in order to save the Union, Lincoln had to free the slaves. However, Paludan states that, “slave states understood this; that is why the seceded and why the Union needed saving.” (634) Lincoln’s presidential victory was the final sign to many Southerners that their position in the Union was

    Read More

  • Was The Emancipation Proclamation A Success Or A Failure

    546 Words  | 2 Pages

    Though the proclamation did not bring about an immediate effect, the idea that, "all persons held as slaves" within the rebellious states "are, and henceforward shall be free”, aided in the strategery of the war, ultimately foreshadowing the passage of the 13th amendment. After the minute, nearly ineffective results of the Emancipation Proclamation, Lincoln searched for a new way to promote abolishing slavery, in hopes of ending the war in favor of the northern states. As the war was nearing end, Lincoln made it a priority to ratify the 13th amendment before the end of the civil war was official. Because of the divided congress, in which one party controls the house and the other the senate, Passing any amendment proved more difficult than ever before. Because of these difficulties, Lincoln fell to passing the amendment by corruption. One way in which corruption was practiced by Lincoln was through the use of

    Read More

  • Reconstruction Dbq Essay

    803 Words  | 2 Pages

    Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States during the beginning era of Reconstruction, had plans to free slaves and grant them freedoms like never before. In 1863, before the war had ended, Lincoln had issued a Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction for the areas of the South that the Union armies occupied. This proclamation was also called the 10 percent plan. It suggested that a state could reenter the Union when 10 percent of that state’s 1860 vote count had taken an oath of allegiance to the United States and pledge to abide by emancipation. Although this policy was put into place to help shorten the war, it also forced governments to further Lincoln’s emancipation policies and abolish slavery. Radical Republicans opposed this plan because they feared it was too lenient towards the South, fearing that his moderate plan would leave in place the political and economic structure that permitted slavery in the South. Many Congressmen believed that only until the South could be dismantled and rebuilt with more Northern philosophies, slaves would never be able to enjoy the benefits of freedom: social, political, and economic freedom.

    Read More

  • The Battle of Antietam

    1924 Words  | 4 Pages

    ... addition to preserving the Union. By the end of the war, it had influenced citizens to accept the abolition for all slaves in both the North and South. The 13th Amendment, which abolished slavery in the United States, passed on December 6, 1865.

    Read More

  • Was Lincoln Prepared to Fight the Civil War?

    775 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...ll the Republican political leaders, two third of the majorities of the house and the senate approved and sent the senates to approved the thirteenth amendment abolishing slavery. President Abraham Lincoln used his influences republican party leaders, and his campaign speech that he spoken from Springfield to Washington to persuasive and changed the South state’s mind. Lincoln wanted to end the civil neutral by stating that he was willing to conciliate the slaves’ states in the South, but that there will be no compromise that was acceptable of the expansion territory of the slavery.

    Read More

  • The Importance of Black Soldiers in the Civil War

    1732 Words  | 4 Pages

    The American Civil War is perhaps the most important event in U.S. history since the American Revolution. Over half a million men would perish between the Union and Confederate Armies. It is important to know that Ulysses S. Grant was an important figure (perhaps the most important behind Abraham Lincoln) in the war. Many will see him as the hero of the American Civil War. Nevertheless there were others who would play an important role to help the Union win the Civil War. The implementation of black soldiers was crucial to the Union in order to achieve victory against the Confederate Army. Yet, the contributions and accomplishments of black soldiers during the Civil War were overlooked for nearly a century following the Civil War. However, within the last 30 years, many scholars and historians have begun to publish books on the history of black soldiers and their contributions to the Civil War. During the Civil War, free blacks were permitted to serve in the Union Army. But it was not until 1863, that black soldiers would see combat and charge against the confederate armies. It is estimated that around 186,000 African American served the Union Army throughout the war, with the creation of 163 colored regiments. My research paper will focus on the Black regiments of the American Civil War and their importance to U.S. history. Some of the important issues that will be discussed in this paper will include the struggles of black soldiers during the Civil War, from their wage earnings (where most made less money than white soldiers); the clothes they wore (most had no uniforms at all). Also, many of these soldiers had trouble getting the basic necessities like shoes, socks and soap. Other areas I will discuss will be the discriminatio...

    Read More

  • African American Soldiers: Pivotal Contributions in the Civil War

    1106 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Civil War is often thought of as white northerners and southerners fighting over the freedom of African American’s. African American soldiers would fight on both sides of the war. The eventual acceptance of African American’s and their contributions to the Union Army would be pivotal in the Unions success. African Americans were banned from joining the Union Army in the early part of the Civil War. President Lincoln feared that African Americans in the Army would persuade certain states, such as Missouri, to join the Confederacy. Once African American soldiers could join the Union Army they would contribute to almost every major battle of the Civil War. 180,000 African Americans served in the Union Army in 163 different units, and 9,000 served as seamen in the Union Navy.1 President Lincoln stated, “Without the military help of the black freedmen, the war against the South could not have been won.”2

    Read More

  • Abraham Lincoln vs the Radical Republicans

    2600 Words  | 6 Pages

    Abraham Lincoln is known as the President who helped to free the slaves, lead the Union to victory over the confederates in the American Civil War, preserve the union of the United States and modernize the economy. The Emancipation Proclamation, issued through Presidential constitutional authority on January 1st, 1863, declared that all slaves in the ten remaining slave states were to be liberated and remain liberated. The Emancipation Proclamation freed between three and four million slaves, however, since it was a Presidential constitutional authority and not though congress, the Emancipation Proclamation failed to free slaves in Border States like Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky and Missouri. Essentially, states that were under Federal Government and loyal to the Union did not have their slaves liberated; Lincoln even stating “When it took effect in January 1863, the Emancipation Proclamation freed 3.1 million of the nation's 4 million slaves.” Some argue Lincoln issued this Proclamation in an attempt to satisfy the demands of Radical Republicans, members of a group within the Republican Party. Radical Republicans were a group of politicians who strongly...

    Read More

  • Essay On The Emancipation Proclamation

    770 Words  | 2 Pages

    Lincoln 's view on slavery was that he was highly against it. Lincoln is known as an abolitionists; someone who doesn 't agree with slavery. He supported the 13th Amendment simply because it would put an end to all slavery in the United States. Lincoln would often give speeches to the public about how he was against slavery. His words were, "Resolutions upon the subject of domestic slavery having passed both branches of the General Assembly at it 's present session, the undersigned hereby protest against the passage of the same." What Lincoln was saying is that problems of slavery have not been resolved they have just been ignored. The skaves protest that they don 't feel they should be ignored or their issues. Lincoln 's cabinet also had their own opinionated views about Lincolns decision on the Proclamation. The opinions from the cabinet were mixed, meaning none were the same or a few were the same but not ever all the same. "William H. Seward convinced Lincoln to wait to issue the Proclamation until after a Union military got a victory." The Union got that victory on September 17, 1862 at the Battle of

    Read More

  • Great American Presidents: Abraham Lincoln

    1153 Words  | 3 Pages

    Abraham Lincoln’s greatest challenge during his presidency was preserving the Union during the Civil War after the Southern states seceded from the Union. There were many dividing issues in the U.S. before his election in 1860, and his presidential victory was the final straw that led to the Civil War. The North and the South were already separating due to regional differences, socially, politically, culturally, and economically. Slavery was one of the biggest factors that led to the division between the North and the South. Preserving the Union while half of the country refused to regard federal law while in secession was extremely challenging, yet Abraham Lincoln decided to fight war against the South not only for the sake of abolishing slavery, but most importantly for the sake of preserving the Union. He was dedicated to fighting for the equality of all men in the U.S., as mentioned in his famous Gettysburg Address: "Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal." He used this to argue a basic point: if all men are created equal, then all men are free. His House Divided speech showed his determination to keep the...

    Read More

  • The Emancipation Proclamation of 1863

    1543 Words  | 4 Pages

    ...h the Confederacy. Even if the goal of the Emancipation Proclamation was to win the war, it was also a moral value because at the end of the war, Lincoln supported the 13th amendment, which ended slavery in the USA. Looking at different sources such as Eric Foner’s “emancipation proclamation” and McPherson James’s “how president Lincoln issued the emancipation proclamation” , it is clear that opinions differed regarding the purpose of the emancipation proclamation, but both of them argued that it was both a military tactic but had also a moral value behind it.

    Read More

  • Abraham Lincoln and the Kansas-Nebraska Act

    1503 Words  | 4 Pages

    Abraham Lincoln’s original views on slavery were formed through the way he was raised and the American customs of the period. Throughout Lincoln’s influential years, slavery was a recognized and a legal institution in the United States of America. Even though Lincoln began his career by declaring that he was “anti-slavery,” he was not likely to agree to instant emancipation. However, although Lincoln did not begin as a radical anti-slavery Republican, he eventually issued his Emancipation Proclamation, which freed all slaves and in his last speech, even recommended extending voting to blacks. Although Lincoln’s feeling about blacks and slavery was quite constant over time, the evidence found between his debate with Stephen A. Douglas and his Gettysburg Address, proves that his political position and actions towards slavery have changed profoundly.

    Read More

  • The Secession Crisis

    903 Words  | 2 Pages

    Contrary to what today’s society believes about Lincoln, he was not a popular man with the South at this period in time. The South wanted to expand towards the West but Lincoln created a geographical containment rule keeping slavery in the states it currently resided in. Despite his trying to rationalize with the South, Lincoln actually believed something different ”Lincoln claimed that he, like the Founding Fathers, saw slavery in the Old South as regrettable reality whose expansion could and should be arrested, thereby putting it on the long and gradual road ”ultimate extinction” (216). He believed it to be “evil” thus “implying that free southerners were evil for defending it”(275). Lincoln wanted to wipe out slavery for good and the South could sense his secret motives. By trying to trick them, the South rebelled as soon as Lincoln became president and launched what is today known as the Civil war.

    Read More

  • The Great Emancipator Analysis

    1296 Words  | 3 Pages

    His personal beliefs had always been opposed to slavery. He believed that the Founding Fathers had put slavery on the road to extinction, and he wanted to continue it down that path. Lincoln acted very professional; he always put the nation before his personal perspective. It transformed the fight to preserve the nation into a battle for human freedom. According to the history book “A People and a Nation”, the Emancipation Proclamation was legally an ambiguous document, but as a moral and political document it had great meaning.

    Read More

  • Civil War Essay Outline

    1063 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the 1860 presidential election, Republicans, led by Abraham Lincoln, opposed the expansion of slavery into United States' territories. Lincoln won, but before his inauguration on March 4, 1861, seven slave states with cotton-based economies formed the Confederacy. The first six to secede had the highest proportions of slaves in their populations, a total of 48.8% for the six. Outgoing Democratic President James Buchanan and the incoming Republicans rejected secession as illegal. Lincoln's inaugural address declared his administration would not initiate civil war. Eight remaining slave states continued to reject calls for secession. Confederate forces seized numerous federal forts within territory claimed by the Confederacy. A peace conference failed to find a compromise, and both sides prepared for war. The Confederates assumed that European countries were so dependent on "King Cotton" that they would intervene; none did and none recognized the new Conf...

    Read More

More about Emancipation Dbq

Open Document